One more death of Tiger in Tadoba tiger reserve

The carcass of a full-grown tiger was found in the core area of Tadoba tiger reserve in eastern part of Maharashtra, some 180 kms from Nagpur in Chandrapur district, on Saturday morning.

According to reports, the carcass was noticed by a group of tourists roaming the area in a tourist vehicle. They informed the forest department that led senior wildlife wing officials to rush there.

The state wildlife warden and principal chief conservator of forests, SWH Naqvi, informed that the tiger carcass -- that appears to be old -- was found near Jamni village in core area of the tiger reserve. "As of now we cannot say if it’s a natural death or a case of poisoning," he said and added that the carcass was sent for a post mortem.

According to him, the representatives of state wildlife wing, Bondu Dhotre and Poonam Dhanwatey of National Tiger Conservation Authority, along with the field director of Tadoba reserves, Vinod Tiwari, rushed to the spot. “We are waiting for the report,” he added.

This is the eight death of a big cat in the district and particularly in the vicinity of Tadoba tiger reserve since January this year.

A tiger was killed and another was severely injured by poachers’ trap at the TATR in April this year while another big cat was killed and cut in 10 pieces in buffer zone of Tadoda in June this year. A decomposed carcass of another tiger was found last week. Forest officials had ruled out any foul play and said that the animal died of old age.

The state witnessed 13 tiger deaths, including five due to poaching this year, making it the state with the most tiger deaths in the country this year. It seems that Tadoba is a vulnerable tiger reserve in the country.

Tadoba, one of project tiger reserves in the state, is spread over 623 sq kms of core area and around 1102 sq kms of buffer zone of high hills and lush valleys under dense teak and bamboo forests. The reserve is also a home to rare wildlife like wild dogs, leopards, bisons, and hyena and jungle cat, along with a 69 tigers.

Tiger sanctuaries in Maharashtra

There are four Tiger reserves in Maharashtra: Melghat, Tadoba, Pench (all in Vidarbha) and Sahyadri (Western Maharashtra)